Battlefleet Gothic was a spaceship combat game made by Games Workshop in 1999. You control a fleet of fuckoff cathedrals with guns battleships, cruisers and escorts and fight against another player doing the same thing. Notably, like many of the specialist games such as Epic, Mordheim, and Gorkamorka, it's pretty well designed. Ships have momentum depending on how big they are, for example. Also notably, GW killed it along with the rest of the specialist games last year. However, there is a VASSAL module, and all the PDFs were available free online before they shuttered the Specialist Games section, which is where this thread comes in.

Imperium: Imperium Of A Million Worlds (Any uninhabited worlds you control count as civilised for the purposes of repair points)Tau: For The Greater Good (On the turn you capture a system gain double repair points from it)Eldar, Dark Eldar: Webway (Disregard warp storms for the purposes of travelling along warp paths; may move twice in a campaign turn)Chaos: Chaos Is Our Master (At the start of each campaign turn you may choose to roll a 2d6. On a 2, one ship in your fleet suffers a hit; on a 7+ you may nominate a system to become embroiled in a warpstorm, on a 12 you may nominate D3 systems instead)Orks: 'Ere We Go! (May conquer planets by crashing 6 Roks or a Space Hulk into them; every 4 capital ship hulks captured in battle may be used to gain a free Space Hulk instead of renown)Necrons: Rejoice, For We Have Returned (Double renown for a successful Exterminatus mission; disregard warp storms for the purposes of travelling along warp paths)Tyranids: Shadow In The Warp (You always pass the Leadership test for direct jumps between adjacent systems (warpstorms force you to roll as normal); double renown for successful Planetary Assault mission)

Fleet Building:
To apply, build a fleet as described in the Battlefleet Gothic rulebook. Starting roster is 2,000 points for all races; any ship not named suffers the penalty for not completing fleet trials. Imperial players start on Spryax Primus. Tau, Chaos, and Ork players start at a border system of their choice. Eldar and Dark Eldar players choose any system to host a Webway gate (counts as pirate base). Necron players start on one of the two uninhabited worlds. Tyranid players start on Malus.

Objectives:
The goal of the campaign will be voted on by the player(s) of each race. The race that meets its objective first wins, and if that race has multiple players then the player with the highest renown is declared the winner.

Campaign Movement:
Each fleet may make one move per campaign turn, using either a warp path or by direct jumping. Orders are sent by email to username @gmail.com; if two fleets land in the same system they arrange a fight and duke it out over VASSAL.

Warp Path:
Each planet is connected by one or more warp paths, allowing fleets a safe (for a given value of “safe”) route through the Immaterium. Unless the origin or destination is currently embroiled in a warp storm all moves via warp paths are automatically successful.

Direct Jump:
Alternatively, fleets may choose to direct jump, plotting an ad-hoc route through the warp. While quicker, moving entire fleets in this manner is rather difficult; the flow of time is fitful in the warp and safe sailing conditions are never guaranteed. To represent this, when direct jumping roll a Leadership check against the Leadership value of the flagship; if successful the route was a success. If the test is failed, there was a complication, choose one:
D3 ships are delayed until the next campaign turn. If the direct jump leads to a battle they cannot be used for that battle.
Each ship in the fleet takes 1 point of damage.
The jump was a non-starter; your fleet remains in the origin system and cannot move for that campaign turn.

Warpstorms

Warpstorms, being raging maelstroms of energy that straddle the borders of realspace and the warp, complicate fleet movement significantly. If a fleet is moving via a warp path and either the origin or destination is currently embroiled in a warpstorm, treat it as a direct jump in normal conditions instead. If a fleet is attempting a direct jump either into or out of a warpstorm, halve the Leadership of the flagship and pick one of the following if the test is failed:
D6 ships are delayed until the next campaign turn.
Each ship in the fleet takes D3 damage (roll once and apply the damage rolled to each ship)
The jump was a non-starter; your fleet remains in the origin system. Furthermore, you lose a point of renown, as your crews question the sanity of attempting a jump in these conditions!

I may change the rules/sub-sector depending on demand, I'm open to suggestions!

Imperials' greatest advantage is the long-range capabilities; they have particularly cheap attack craft and torpedo access, and unique access to the very powerful nova cannons. A standard closing strategy for the Imperium is massive torpedo salvos that deny your opponent an easy way of closing with your forces while you bombard them with ordinance. In general, you want to keep your enemies in front of you to take advantage of your higher prow armor and powerful prow weapons. At close range (45cm or less), Imperial capital ships tend to be outgunned, outranged, or outmaneuvered, and rely on escorts for protection. The Imperium can bring in Space Marines as backup, which are extremely good at certain scenarios, and are pretty solid even outside of them.

Chaos likes to brawl. They want to engage ships then broadside and board them. They have particularly long ranged batteries and lances, but have poor access to torpedoes. They tend to be faster than comparable Imperial ships, but lack prow armor. They also have access to Marks of Chaos, some of which (Khorne, Slaanesh) are very powerful if used well. Chaos also has access to the pretty cool Daemonships, which can both heal and teleport around. On the other hand, Chaos ships lack any sort of defensive gimmick and are fairly close range by necessity, and thus are pretty vulnerable to return fire, and for the most part, their re-rolls are limited to specific ships, rather than fleet wide.

Eldar are fast, fragile, reliable and supremely maneuverable. While they lack shields like most other ships, they are nearly impossible to hit with lances, torpedoes, and attack craft, though they are vulnerable to batteries and are three times as likely to suffer critical hits. Their weapons are relatively short range, but exceptionally deadly, and they possess the ability to move twice per turn, allowing them to make effective hit and run attacks. Their maneuvering is somewhat limited however by the sun facing, and thus can be disrupted by a clever opponent.

Dark Eldar are very much like the normal Eldar, but with a more close-combat focus. Their lances are even more powerful than Eldar lances, unlike their cousins have access to assault boats and the unique and powerful Impaler module. Their torpedoes apply a movement debuff to their opponents, and they have the unique ability to approach the enemy before the battle begins with their mimic engines. The same flaws that apply to the Eldar also apply to the Dark Eldar, and they suffer from some lack of variety in fleet construction.

Ork ships have powerful (if unreliable) front-mounted short-range weapons, armored prows, and a bonus to All Ahead Full orders; their strategy is pretty self-evident. Orks suffer from poor maneuverability and leadership (but cheap re-rolls), but in the right circumstances can tear apart basically anything in the game. Ork ships are cheap for how good they are, and thus tend to outnumber their opponents. They also get access to the really cool weaponized Space Hulks, which are all but indestructible mobile bases.

Tau are pretty similar to the Imperium, trading off even more close-combat ability for even better torpedoes and attack craft. They also have the minor ability to boost their accuracy with special escort ships. They also have a number of interesting but relatively minor options for their mercenary allies. That's pretty much it.

Tyranids are very interesting. They're extremely powerful and tanky for their price, and are absolutely fantastic in close combat. On the other hand, they can only directly issue orders to a small minority of their fleet at any given time, with the rest acting under Instinctive Behavior. Fortunately, Instinctive Behavior isn't a huge hindrance; ships will generally do more or less what you want them too anyway, they'll just do so predictably. In general, Tyranid combat is centered around their Hive Ships; if they manage to protect them, they can generally attrition down their foes, while if they are defeated, the Tyranids are likely to take heavy casualties.

And, ughh... Necron. Don't play Necron. They're badly designed, pretty overpowered, and boring to both play as and against. They're the tankiest faction in the game, have weapons that are almost as good as Eldar, are more maneuverable than anyone who isn't Eldar, and are pretty solid at boarding actions. They aren't completely without weakness: on the off-chance they do receive a critical hit, Necron are very likely to suffer from permanent Leadership loss, and on the even-more-unlikely chance you actually manage to kill a Necron ship, they're worth double to triple the amount of victory points as normal. They also have an effectively mild penalty to repairing their ships.

Forums Terrorist fucked around with this message at Nov 29, 2014 around 23:58

List up. Also, since you asked for suggestions, my favorite campaign houserule is making Refits 2+ appeals, Specials 4+ appeals, and Reinforcements 5+ appeals, to A) make refits more appealing, and thus ships more interesting and B) to make players more cautious with their ships, particularly expensive ones.

This game always interested me, but I never had the money or time to purchase, paint, and agonize over the mostly red, spike-covered flame decal Ork fleet of my dreamz. How long will you be leaving recruitment for this open for? I'm still halfway busy at work right now and won't be able to download and learn the rules properly for maybe a week.

When calculating the number of cruisers I need to afford battleships or battlecruisers, do I need to add them together or are they calculated separately? E.G. if I want a battleship and two battlecruisers do I need 4 cruisers or 7?

edit: nvm, found the answer.

thatbastardken fucked around with this message at Nov 29, 2014 around 02:58

When calculating the number of cruisers I need to afford battleships or battlecruisers, do I need to add them together or are they calculated separately? E.G. if I want a battleship and two battlecruisers do I need 4 cruisers or 7?

This Australia Day I would like to give thanks for a worldwide return to sanity, as demonstrated by President Trump, Brexit, Senators Hanson and Leyonhjelm, One Nation outpolling the Greens, and the the demodding of EM.

Not a good time to be a rabid leftist lol.

I'm also considering what fleet I'd like to play, if I do Imperial Navy or Chaos then I'm going to take the ships I actually own, otherwise I'm very much leaning towards doing a Tau Kor'or'vesh fleet.

Imperials' greatest advantage is the long-range capabilities; they have particularly cheap attack craft and torpedo access, and unique access to the very powerful nova cannons. A standard closing strategy for the Imperium is massive torpedo salvos that deny your opponent an easy way of closing with your forces while you bombard them with ordinance. In general, you want to keep your enemies in front of you to take advantage of your higher prow armor and powerful prow weapons. At close range (45cm or less), Imperial capital ships tend to be outgunned, outranged, or outmaneuvered, and rely on escorts for protection. The Imperium can bring in Space Marines as backup, which are extremely good at certain scenarios, and are pretty solid even outside of them.

Chaos likes to brawl. They want to engage ships then broadside and board them. They have particularly long ranged batteries and lances, but have poor access to torpedoes. They tend to be faster than comparable Imperial ships, but lack prow armor. They also have access to Marks of Chaos, some of which (Khorne, Slaanesh) are very powerful if used well. Chaos also has access to the pretty cool Daemonships, which can both heal and teleport around. On the other hand, Chaos ships lack any sort of defensive gimmick and are fairly close range by necessity, and thus are pretty vulnerable to return fire, and for the most part, their re-rolls are limited to specific ships, rather than fleet wide.

Eldar are fast, fragile, reliable and supremely maneuverable. While they lack shields like most other ships, they are nearly impossible to hit with lances, torpedoes, and attack craft, though they are vulnerable to batteries and are three times as likely to suffer critical hits. Their weapons are relatively short range, but exceptionally deadly, and they possess the ability to move twice per turn, allowing them to make effective hit and run attacks. Their maneuvering is somewhat limited however by the sun facing, and thus can be disrupted by a clever opponent.

Dark Eldar are very much like the normal Eldar, but with a more close-combat focus. Their lances are even more powerful than Eldar lances, unlike their cousins have access to assault boats and the unique and powerful Impaler module. Their torpedoes apply a movement debuff to their opponents, and they have the unique ability to approach the enemy before the battle begins with their mimic engines. The same flaws that apply to the Eldar also apply to the Dark Eldar, and they suffer from some lack of variety in fleet construction.

Ork ships have powerful (if unreliable) front-mounted short-range weapons, armored prows, and a bonus to All Ahead Full orders; their strategy is pretty self-evident. Orks suffer from poor maneuverability and leadership (but cheap re-rolls), but in the right circumstances can tear apart basically anything in the game. Ork ships are cheap for how good they are, and thus tend to outnumber their opponents. They also get access to the really cool weaponized Space Hulks, which are all but indestructible mobile bases.

Tau are pretty similar to the Imperium, trading off even more close-combat ability for even better torpedoes and attack craft. They also have the minor ability to boost their accuracy with special escort ships. They also have a number of interesting but relatively minor options for their mercenary allies. That's pretty much it.

Tyranids are very interesting. They're extremely powerful and tanky for their price, and are absolutely fantastic in close combat. On the other hand, they can only directly issue orders to a small minority of their fleet at any given time, with the rest acting under Instinctive Behavior. Fortunately, Instinctive Behavior isn't a huge hindrance; ships will generally do more or less what you want them too anyway, they'll just do so predictably. In general, Tyranid combat is centered around their Hive Ships; if they manage to protect them, they can generally attrition down their foes, while if they are defeated, the Tyranids are likely to take heavy casualties.

And, ughh... Necron. Don't play Necron. They're badly designed, pretty overpowered, and boring to both play as and against. They're the tankiest faction in the game, have weapons that are almost as good as Eldar, are more maneuverable than anyone who isn't Eldar, and are pretty solid at boarding actions. They aren't completely without weakness: on the off-chance they do receive a critical hit, Necron are very likely to suffer from permanent Leadership loss, and on the even-more-unlikely chance you actually manage to kill a Necron ship, they're worth double to triple the amount of victory points as normal. They also have an effectively mild penalty to repairing their ships.

Imperials' greatest advantage is the long-range capabilities; they have particularly cheap attack craft and torpedo access, and unique access to the very powerful nova cannons. A standard closing strategy for the Imperium is massive torpedo salvos that deny your opponent an easy way of closing with your forces while you bombard them with ordinance. In general, you want to keep your enemies in front of you to take advantage of your higher prow armor and powerful prow weapons. At close range (45cm or less), Imperial capital ships tend to be outgunned, outranged, or outmaneuvered, and rely on escorts for protection. The Imperium can bring in Space Marines as backup, which are extremely good at certain scenarios, and are pretty solid even outside of them.

So my theoretically light, fast task force would basically just be a turkey shoot for other players? Let me rethink then.

There ARE other ways to play factions than the suggested default, especially for Imperials. Imperials have a huge selection of ships, which means you can pretty much pick and choose for a strategy. That said, you need to know what your weaknesses are or you may find some nasty surprises.

I'll try for a more typical approach seeing as this will be my first campaign.

Spryax Subsector Command posted:

Ada Lammar should not be in charge of a Subsector Command fleet. She lacks the experience and good political connections to rise to such an exalted rank. Her highest posting was Captain of Grace of the Emperor, at which her career had effectively stalled. The primary qualification she has is that all officers ahead of her in the chain of command were killed aboard Manifest Destiny when a plasma conduit ruptured unexpectedly while the senior officers were attending a social function. Morale aboard the great ship has not yet recovered, and Commander Lammar finds herself leading the fleet until a replacement can be sent out from Gothic Sector Command. Assuming they have received the Astropathic message, that could still be years away.

When the Inquisition moves, it typically does so from the shadows as individuals or working in small cells. The nature of their mission means that overt action is both unhelpful and unfeasible. However, there are always exceptions to every rule and the Seeker Fleet of young Inquisitor Daren Andser is one such exception. Amassed through bribes, favors and threats, Seeker Fleet Fatuney represents a powerful, far ranging force that can range anywhere the Inquisitor deems necessary. They appeared without warning or announcement over Spyrus Primus, ships as black as the void itself. For what purpose, none save the Inquisitor may say...

This is an Adeptus Mechanicus fleet fluffed out to be an Inquisitor's personal flotilla, I believe I have combined these rules appropriately. It's been so long since I played, I'm not sure if this is crap, ok or broken so if it's broken just tell me.

Here's my Ork fleet, i'll add some names later. I did it up in Army Builder which has mostly correct points values, I think the price of some of the escorts in higher then in the 2010 faq but its pretty close.

edit: Added some names, might edit the points to the 2010 FAQ costs and squeeze in some more escorts, though the difference isn't big.

This Australia Day I would like to give thanks for a worldwide return to sanity, as demonstrated by President Trump, Brexit, Senators Hanson and Leyonhjelm, One Nation outpolling the Greens, and the the demodding of EM.

Not a good time to be a rabid leftist lol.

Space Hulks are pretty good too by the way, I really wouldn't underestimate them.

Also Chaos Space Hulks are also a thing, but I'm assuming that crashing a Chaos Space Hulk into a planet World Eaters style isn't the same as the Ork thing?

Still debating what to spend the last 260 pts on, but looking for review of current selection by someone experienced if they want to. Trying to make sure I haven't screwed myself over or something. I'll do leadership rolls later tonight.

Current thoughts for finalizing are either another Cruiser, 2 Solaris Light Cruisers, or a squadron(s) of Nightshades and/or a light cruiser.

You might want to check out the Craftworld Eldar fleet, which is very similar but probably easier for an inexperience player to succeed with, since it's substantially more resilient. It'll also help differentiate our fleets.